The most popular kid in Brussels

My first day in Brussels I heard rumours of a “peeing statue”—a fountain statue of a young child holding his goods as he pees. Blame it on the jetlag or losing my luggage, but I didn’t get the joke. A fountain statue of a child peeing? What’s the big deal?

Well, it’s a really big deal. In fact, in Belgium, it’s a huge deal. In the city museum there is an entire room dedicated to the Manneken-Pis—the peeing statue. To illustrate the extent of the Manneken’s celebrity status, there were more people in that one little room than on the entire three floors of the museum.

And was it a fun little room. One panel consisted of myths surrounding the origin of the statue. Some of the stories go as far back as the 1100s. One story suggested the statue is a result of a witch that punished a medieval king by cursing his son to never grow, while another legend tells of an infant king who, when his troops went into war and looked to him for inspiration, was found peeing on the battlefield. The next room was the statue’s closet, which would make any shopaholic worth her salt rub her hands with glee. In it were some of the 750 (yes, you read that right) outfits the Mannequin dons throughout the year. They come from around the world, donated from every country and area and commemorate everything from being a peacenik, the European Union, student life or Elvis Presley. There are four for Canada alone. The outfits are changed daily thanks to a dresser, a city worker who keeps the mannequin looking good and shiny. The clothes are also changed to commemorate different holidays: Europe Day, Canada Day, Victoria Day, Cinco de Mayo etc.

It’s a big tourist attraction too. My interest peaked, I felt compelled to trek down the street and see the boy up close and personal. Unfortunately, in real life, the boy doesn’t live up to the hype—he was smaller than I thought it would be. (picture of statue)

But that didn’t stop the crowds. People were clustered around the gate (he even had a gate to prevent visitors from touching or stealing the statue and signs advising against jumping the fence) and tourists lined up to take pictures in front of the statute. The Mannequin is big business too. Shops around the statue sell oodles of memorabilia in his likeness (mini porcelain figurines, corkscrews, coasters, etc) and there are two restaurants across from it: one in French and one in Flemish. Seduced by the photo op, I succumbed to the power of the peeing boy.